Looking Forward to Spring

I don't know about you, but I'm ready for spring!  This winter has been wonderful with all the snow - I LOVE the snow - and I'm huge fan of cold weather.  Something about colder weather makes me feel skinnier - perhaps that's why I think winter is the best season!  But, this winter has brought so much sickness into my home and I'm tired of dealing with that stupid stomach bug.  You know the one...constant diarrhea or throwing up - for DAYS!  And it has literally been many days at my house with this sickness in the past few weeks because of how many people reside here and share all those lovely icky germs!  Enough already!  Bring on the Spring!!! :)

I have Lysoled the house like crazy - all the furniture, even carpets - and have been changing sheets, washing laundry as soon as it is defiled, making sure kids are washing hands, coughing into their sleeves instead of into their hands, yet for all my worthy efforts, that dumb stomach bug reigns!  We may have rid our home of the stomach virus but I think we've moved onto the strep throat virus - lovely!  Highly contagious!  And I have a 6 week old infant to protect from these nasty invaders!  Sigh...the groundhog saw it's shadow, right?  Hmmm...maybe only a few more weeks of winter?

If you have any tips on how to effectively rid the home of germs - specifically the stomach and strep throat ones - comment me!  I could use some help - obviously!  Here's hoping your family gets rid of the sickness soon too! 

Kids Say the Darndest Things

Long ago when I began this motherhood stage of life (9.3 years ago), I made a promise to carry around some sort of notebook that would be easily accessible to write down all the crazy things my children would say.  Parents all know that kids are quite blunt and articulate when it comes to saying whatever pops into their minds.  So, today I make a list of some of the funniest one-liners my kids have said recently...

Situation:  Watching this week's Winter Olympics in the ice-dancing sport, my 2 middle daughters (ages 6 and 4) had the following coversation:

Bailey (6):  Ooh, I like her dress!
Olivia (4):  But, do you like her face?

Different conversation during the same Olympic viewing...

Bailey (6):  Where are they (ice-dancers) from?

Chandler (9):  They are Swedish.
Avalon (8):  No, they are money-ish.
Chandler:  There is no such thing as money-ish!
Avalon:  (emphatically) Yes, there is!  Look at her necklace - has coins all around it so she is money-ish!
Chandler rolls his eyes as Bailey nods her head in agreement. 

Wouldn't it be nice to be from MoneyLand? :)

Situation:  Grandma has a boyfriend (she and Grandpa divorced this past year) and Bailey sees her kiss him in the kitchen...

Bailey:  Yuck!
Grandma:  It's not yuck, Silly :)
Bailey:  (shakes her head)  Yes, it is and besides, you have to ask Jesus first (to do that)!
Grandma:  (laughing and cheeks red with embarrassment)  I did ask Jesus and He said yes!
Bailey just hides her head into Grandma's stomach, shaking her head no...

more to come later...

Road Trip

I love road trips!  There is nothing more exciting than getting in the van and driving down the road, soaking in all the majestic scenery.  My parents frequently took me and my four siblings on road trips when we were younger.  At least two weekends each month Dad would either drive us to a lake or place to hike - anywhere between 30 minutes and an hour from our home. At least once a year we would have a long road trip to either the mountains or the beach.  Every time we took a road trip, I had so much fun looking out the window and letting my mind wander for miles.

Not much has changed since my childhood-road trip-days for I still enjoy the time I get to let my mind wander as my husband whisks the family down the road to our destination.  Just this past weekend my husband decided it was time for an impromptu road trip up north to see my family.  Yay!!!  It was a short visit - we left Friday morning and came home Sunday night - but the road trip was exciting and worth it - no matter how long it took us to drive up there!

Preparing a road trip for six small children is no pint-size task - especially when Daddy is teaching all day (morning, noon, and night) the day before we leave!  The duty of getting everything packed and loaded into the van fell to me but I wasn't complaining.  It's just that there are SIX children and I have to remember all the hats, gloves, winter coats, extra blankets, toys, books, etc which requires me to make one massive list!  The kids do help by picking out the toys and books they want to bring, but I always downsize their items because if I didn't, there would be no room for us to sit! 

So I spent the evening doing laundry, packing, re-packing, and finally loading everything into the van.  I was pumped to see my family because for the first time in my life I am an auntie!!!  The kids were equally excited to travel up north because they couldn't wait to see their aunties, uncles, grand-parents, second-cousins, and finally they would be introduced to their very own first-cousin!  With all this excitement in the air, the kids had a bit of trouble falling to sleep that night but were ready to get on the road when the sun rose the next morning!

So, what is our vehicle of choice when hitting the road?  A 12 passenger white Chevy van.  It may not be a sports car or look super-chic for a family of eight, but to me, it is AWESOME!  For one thing, the engine is amazing and actually climbs up mountain roads quite well as compared to our Ford conversion van.  Another thing is that there is space for the kids to sit two per row which means some extra leg room so I don't hear as much whining - this fact alone makes my van super-chic in my eyes!   And this van enables everyone to control how much air (heat or AC) is blowing on them so that is pretty cool too!

A road trip with our six kids does involve some whining here and there but overall the kids do a great job of entertaining themselves either by reading books, playing with their toys, or playing on their PSP or DS-Lite.  This gives me a whole bunch of time to let my mind wander or to enjoy conversation with my husband.  This is probably my favorite reason to take a road trip: spending time in the front seat with my husband talking about whatever comes to mind while the kids entertain themselves in the back of the van = pure bliss = priceless!

Our road trip was a success - everyone enjoyed visiting the family - and I can't wait to get back out on the road again! 

Family

Have I ever mentioned the dynamics of my family? Well, let me give it to you straight, real quickly!

I am the mother of SIX beautiful, gorgeous, highly intelligent, active, and sometimes bratty/whiny children. My oldest is 9 years old and the youngest is 5 weeks old tomorrow. The oldest and youngest kids are boys and we have 4 girls sandwiched in between. I never thought I would have so many females in the house - talk about way too much estrogen! The girls are nowhere close to embarking on physical change, but I promise you they have periods already! Makes for fun dialogue or rather arguing and screaming amongst the kids...never a dull moment here, people!

I have been married 10.5 years to my bestest friend and love of my life. We met in college when I was a sophomore-transfer student and he was a senior looking for fresh meat - just kidding! I thought (and still do think) he was/is the most handsome guy I had ever seen and was totally nervous to make eye contact...met the 2nd weekend of school, believe it or not, and he became "the one" by Christmas - the guy I knew I wanted to marry...and thankfully he felt the same way!

As for the last dynammic of the family, we have 2 dogs: 4.5 year-old pure-bred boxer named "Justice" - which oddly enough is my maiden name but we didn't name the dog, she came with the name from the breeder, and we also have a 3.5 year-old pure-bred beagle named Plato. His name, however, is an oxymoron because the dog totally exhibits no brain cells but boy, is he cute! So there you have it - my family in a nutshell!

I am a stay-at-home mom who homeschools these crazy, lovely, fun children while working part-time as a Research Assistant in the field of Character Education for my former professor at Regent University. I also freelance write articles regarding education on Associated Content and I tutor online for Brainfuse. In the midst of these little jobs, I am trying to pursue my Ph.D. in Education - I'll let you know how that goes...I'd love to eventually get back in the classroom, but for now, it's all about being Mommy to these amazing kids and Wife to my best friend!

So, there's a bio on my family and a little bit about me - just so you know who is writing this blog! I love my family!!!

Starting Over

I originally began this blog last year as a way to force myself to write about my experiences being a stay-at-home mom who homeschools her kids. I thought my kids would find it entertaining and maybe even a bit educational when one day they looked back to read my perspective of what it was like to quit my teaching job and stay at home and teach them. But, life happened and the past 12 months were not easy, thus writing took a major backseat to my daily experiences.

Last week, my youngest sister (almost 10 years younger than me - I'm the oldest of 5 kids) sent me a link on my Facebook page about some woman who blogs daily regarding her experiences as a stay-at-home mom. My sister informed me that I should do the same because who wouldn't want to read about a crazy woman with 6 kids - all under age 9 - who is furthering her education, teaching and raising the kids, prayerfully supporting her husband (did I mention we didn't have jobs for 12 months?), and is involved in a myriad of community projects? I think my sister is insane but she got me to thinking and so here I sit, writing.

Because I want to be a good writer/blogger, several weeks I ago I joined a freelance writing community and today I was sent a most helpful newsletter from the FWJ community (here is their link http://www.freelancewritinggigs.com/ ) with regards to making your writing matter. You have to be passionate about that which you are writing so why shouldn't I blog about my family? I'm uber-passionate about families - a God-created institution!

So, today I begin again - I renew my vow to blog about my experiences being a stay-at-home mom, homeschool mom, and devoted wife. I will share the good and the bad, lessons learned, and hopefully encouraging and witty comments to keep all us moms who are in the state of "motherhood overload" on the path to maintaining a happy, healthy, strong family unit! Here's to being MOM!

Summer Blues

"Bring out those lazy, crazy, hazy days of summer..." Around my house there are certainly no lazy days! I only wish for a breath of laziness every now and then! As a homeschooling parent, it's been rather busy this year (we moved several states away after my husband and I finished Grad School in December) which means our homeschooling calendar has seen severe revisions. Thus, no lazy days here but rather days still filled with schooling - teaching, learning, homework, hands-on activities, etc! Couple the work with a ton of visitors and it seems this summer will be over before I know it!

So, where do the summer blues come into play? Well, with this hectic schedule, I haven't had time to just relax and enjoy being with my husband and kids. It seems that whenever I'm not teaching, there's plenty of laundry to do, people to entertain, and the list of tasks just continues! The school year will be over in about 2 weeks which gives our family roughly 4 weeks to relax until another school year begins again. But, we're expecting at least 2 weeks of visitors which crams the family time to 2 weeks, thus my summer blues. I am looking forward to any break in the schedule where I can just be Mom and no one else (teacher, wife, cook, counselor, entertainer, etc).

Enforcing Exercise

There are so many temptations today that pull at kids and lure them away from daily physical exercise. These temptations come in various shapes and forms: I-Pods, computer games, board games, TV, PSPs, etc and although each of these products are not bad they do however take away from physical exercise if kids are using them incessantly. Many parents do not take the time to enforce daily exercise for their children because they either are too busy or they feel that the daily allotted exercise amount is reached during physical education class. Nothing can be further from the truth! When current research says that our children in America are becoming increasingly more overweight at earlier ages, it is time for parents to take notice! Of course, diet does play a role in determining the weight and size of a child, but there is nothing better, more productive in helping kids remain healthy than a good dose of outdoor activity each day.

When I was younger, in the summers my mother used to kick us five kids out of the house by 9 AM every morning and we weren't allowed to come back inside until lunch and then we were promptly thrown back outside until dinner. We could bring a book to read if we desired but mostly my summer days were spent playing kickball, basketball, baseball, soccer, tag, and make-believe scenarios with my siblings and neighborhood kids. I was never bored, that is for sure, and I never lacked an imagination! Parents today could stand to be a little bit more like my mom and although I realize I was lucky to have a stay-at-home mother, children should still be forced to exercise and play outside even if they have a baby-sitter or other childcare giver while the parents are at work.

TV has become the substitute for parenting or caring for children in many households throughout the United States and it is for these children that I pity for they are losing out on the fun and imagination of being outdoors and forced to devise new games to keep them entertained. Enforcing exercise does not mean ignoring your children and shoving them outdoors until you feel like being with them but rather parents should partake in the physical activities with their children. Role modeling will not only show that you feel strongly about physical exercise but it also increases the amount of time spent with your child and that is what is of utmost importance. Parents are the best role models for their children and because most parents do not have the option to stay at home all day and home-school their children, it is that much more important for families to participate in exercise together.

Some activities which draw families closer together while having fun and exercising:
playing tag
playing soccer
playing kickball
playing basketball
playing baseball
riding bikes
hiking
taking a walk
doing yard work
playing at the pool/beach
name your own idea!

All children desire to spend time with their parents and exercising together as a family is the perfect opportunity to cultivate love in the family as well as creating a happy, healthy family. May you and your family have an amazing exercise-filled spring, summer, fall, and winter!